The Testimonial Focused Homepage Used By A Marketing Legend

Drayton Bird is possibly one of the most well-known names in the history of marketing.

David Ogilvy himself said: "Drayton Bird knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world."

So, for this copywriting example, we are going to take a look at the incredible testimonial focused home page of Drayton Bird Associates.

Ready?

Let's dive in.


Testimonials That Remove Any Doubt

When you first visit the website of Drayton Bird, you are drawn to how straightforward it is.

There are no fancy graphics, video headers or high-resolution images.

It is words that do the heavy lifting on this page.

The page features a simple two-column layout with a sidebar that contains a call to action, a list of clients and work/ examples.

It is, however, the central column that draws you in with the powerful testimonial from David Ogilvy.

There are a total of 31 testimonials from some huge names in marketing, and business.

And these add up to a total of over 900 words, which by modern web design standards is a lot of text.

Yet, within less than 30 seconds, this 'wall of testimonials' make it absolutely clear that Drayton Bird is not only amazing (which we all know he is) but that he can deliver results.


Descriptive Testimonials That Drive Leads


Most testimonials on websites will say something like this:

 "Great service, would highly recommend, Sandra from London".

Yet, if you examine Drayton's home page, you can see how descriptive he is around the person who is giving the testimonial. 

For example:


This testimonial by Gary Bencivenga is both well written but also places Gary in high regard with the line:

"Gary Bencivenga, widely regarded before retirement as the world's best direct marketing copywriter".

The added descriptive line tells you why this testimonial matters, regardless of if you know who Gary Bencivenga is.

I think this is such an easy way to improve testimonials so that they become relevant to any reader, regardless of who the testimonial is from.

And this can apply from B2B to B2C industries as well. 

So, Sandra who says you have excellent service, becomes:

 'Sandra, head of marketing, for (insert business name), winners of the 2019 Engineering business of the year award".

Or in a B2C example where a product targets Mums, Sandra could become:

"Sandra from London, Mother of 2 boys aged 8 and 5"

By adding a little descriptive context, a testimonial becomes more powerful.

Which Testimonial Is Better?

"The service I received was excellent, I couldn't fault it.

We will definitely be using them again."



peter schimdt

Head of Marketing at Acme industries Ltd, guest speaker at the 2019 marketing world conference, voted young marketer of the year 2020.

"The service I received was excellent, I couldn't fault it. We will definitely be using them again"



PETER SCHIMDT

Marketing Manager




A Double Call To Action That Will Boost Conversions

The main call to action on the page is for Drayton's email list.

The call to action is below.

(This is a screen shot, the video doesn't play here)

The lead magnet is 51 FREE helpful marketing ideas.

This lead magnet, in reality, is a daily email series where I assume 51 emails go out (I am only on day 2).

I have to say the emails are actually fantastic and also long for emails, I would describe them as mini blog posts in length. 

For example, one email was over 800 words long but was actually both entertaining and packed with a great idea I could use.

Another look at the lead magnet reveals this great line:

"All proven and tested to improve results".

In a few short words, Drayton has told you that these aren't just free ideas (after all the internet is full of them), these are ideas that have been tested and proven.

This makes the information even more valuable. 

In addition to the 51 free ideas, Drayton gives you another bonus, a free book by Claude Hopkins called 'Scientific Advertising'.

I own the physical version of the book and can confirm it is superb, but this 'double lead magnet' approach makes signing up for the email list a no brainer.

I have to say, this is the first time I have seen a 'double lead magnet' using this approach before.


Case Study Jump Links

Under the lead magnet and in the sidebar is a list of jump links to case studies of client work.

One of my biggest annoyances is that businesses never add case studies to websites.

Most companies have plenty of satisfied clients, yet for some uknown reason, never use a case study on their site.

In my opinion, case studies are some of the best ways to win clients.

Drayton takes this to the next level with 21 links, and I am sure he could add plenty more.

Each opens to a short but again, highly effective case study that shows what they did, what the results were and they even include screenshots of the actual work.

This shows that well-written case studies don't have to be huge to get the point across.

Conclusion

So, there you have it.  

Our breakdown of a testimonial focused home page.

Are your testimonials buried at the bottom of your page and are they bland and don't add any context or value?

Or are your testimonials front and centre because you are proud of them?

Anyway, comment below to let us know what you thought of this breakdown.

And feel free to share this article with your friends, colleagues, your lovers, secret crushes and even people you don't really like, frankly speaking, I need the social shares.

Thanks for reading.

Andrew Holland


Tags


You may also like

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}
>